Wilkinson tries insanity plea for dragging death of Willits grandfather

The Willits man accused of torturing and killing his grandfather about a year ago changed his not-guilty plea to one of not guilty by reason of insanity Friday morning in Mendocino County Superior Court.

Kenneth Wilkinson, 23, could face life in prison without parole if he is convicted of killing his 84-year-old grandfather, Richard Mel Wilkinson, and a special circumstance that he tortured the elder Wilkinson by dragging him behind a pickup truck for nearly six miles on the night of March 17, 2012, according to the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office.

The change could delay the May 6 trial, according to Assistant District Attorney Paul Sequeira, as he and Public Defender Linda Thompson, who represents Wilkinson, consider how many expert witnesses the court should appoint for his trial.

Sequeira said depending on how many experts the court appoints, there may not be enough time for them to prepare for the May 6 trial.

Judge John Behnke told the attorneys to research the question and report back April 12. According to Sequeira, the court can appoint either two or three experts when the defendant has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

When a defendant pleads not guilty by reason of insanity, the trial usually includes a guilt phase where the jury first decides the defendant's factual guilt or innocence, and a sanity phase where the jury determines whether the defendant was legally insane while committing the crime.

Insanity is a legal term under state law meaning that because of a mental defect or disorder, the defendant didn't understand the nature or quality of the act, or was incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong.

The trial was rescheduled twice, once by Thompson's deputy, Farris Purviance III, who formerly represented Wilkinson before illness put him in the hospital recently. Purviance had in June asked for a February trial date, saying he needed time for extensive preparation.

The trial was set for February, then reset again when Thompson told the court in January that she needed to familiarize herself with the case after Purviance's hospitalization.

Wilkinson would be automatically eligible for the life-without-parole sentence if the special circumstance of torture is found true, the District Attorney's Office stated previously.

Purviance had said previously that the question of how and when the elder Wilkinson died would be an issue in court.

Early results from a March autopsy show that the 84-year-old man died of "multiple blunt force trauma," according to the Mendocino County Sheriff/Coroner's Office.

Authorities were called just after 11 p.m. the night of the incident to an East Hill Road home after family members reported that some kind of assault had taken place and that the elder Wilkinson was missing.

Deputies searched the area and found the elder Wilkinson dead, apparently dumped down a steep, brushy hillside off of the winding, dirt-and-rock Mariposa Creek Road.

Tiffany Revelle can be reached at udjtr@ukiahdj.com, on Twitter @TiffanyRevelle or at 468-3523.